1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 – that’s it! by Maureen Locher

It’s 1:30 in the morning. I have been sitting in what I refer to as my Happy Place for hours. It is amazing how time flies when I am writing – doing what I love to do. Do you have something you simply love to do? If you don’t, why don’t you? Really – why don’t you? You are reading this column at CatholicMom, so chances are pretty darn good that you are a Catholic mom. Am I right?

Being a mom means your time is not yours. You give of yourself to everyone else all day long. Am I right again? Am I two for two? How many things have you done for other people today? Perhaps it’s impossible to measure since there have been so many. Now don’t get me wrong – I’m all for doing for the other. But with one critical exception: not to the total exclusion of oneself.

What have you done for yourself today? Can you think of anything? Are you racking your brain to come with one thing? Oh, I hope you’re not. Because that’s not good. You’ll burn out. You’ll become grumpy. And probably angry. The holidays are rapidly approaching. Halloween costumes and classroom parties, Thanksgiving turkeys as the families gather, and then comes Christmas in all its exhaustive glory. And may I add here that I am positively delighted to be writing on a Catholic Web site where I can call Christmas, Christmas! (Perhaps more on that at a later date.)

So…have you come up with anything yet? A bubble bath at the very least? An hour, half hour, OK – 10 minutes – to yourself to read a chapter of your favorite book? A shopping trip without the kiddies? A good old-fashioned date with your husband? Remember those?

We moms will soon be so busy thinking of a million details. Let’s stop now to take a moment to breathe, to prioritize our lives just a little bit more than we do. What’s working? What’s not? Because if it’s not working now you’ll hate it come December. Do something today to make your life simpler and happier. Take some time for yourself every single day. Begin with 10 minutes. You can find 10 minutes. You can. Quit mentally arguing – yes, you can! Then add another minute every day.

Pretend you are your best friend. Your best friend calls you every day. She has a problem, and you drop everything for her for 10 minutes because she means so much to you. She needs you so much. You know you’d do it for her, or for your child, or for your spouse. Do it for you. You are not seriously thinking that you are not worth 10 minutes a day, are you? You better not be!

Have some fun. Find some peace. Give it a try. What do you have to lose?

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3 Comments

This was a very good reminder on an evening when I was (am!) feeling utterly frazzled. I think it’s a sign that I should hunker down with a good novel rather than doing something “sensible,” like laundry.